The West Indies Oil Company Ltd.

What it is

Incorporated under the laws of Antigua and Barbuda with registered offices at Friars Hill Road, St. John’s, WIOC’s principal activity is the storage and distribution of petroleum products and related ancillary activities including laboratory attestation services and marine vessel agency.

It also engages in real estate development and owns a wholly-owned Dominica subsidiary, The West Indies Oil Company (Dominica) Limited, which handles petroleum storage and distribution in that island.

Beyond standard fuels, WIOC supplies domestic liquefied petroleum gas, engine oils and lubricants, and distributes them through a network of 4 marinas and 17 service stations in Antigua, 1 in Barbuda, and 9 in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Fuel storage is another core activity; by 2020 the company had expanded its tank farm to hold up to 1.7 million barrels.

Who owns it

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB) is the largest single shareholder, holding 2,717,280 shares — 45.9% of the company. The next two largest shareholders are PDV Caribe S.A. (the Caribbean subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company) with 25%, and Fancy Bridge Limited with 24%.

The GOAB originally held a controlling 51% stake prior to an IPO in May 2021, when it offered 301,920 of its shares to the public without increasing the company’s total share capital. That public float of roughly 5% makes WIOC the first private Antiguan non-financial institution to list on a stock exchange — a meaningful milestone for a market where public companies are rare.

Who runs it

Gregory F. Georges has been Chief Executive Officer since November 1, 2014; before that, he served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer from September 2004 and was previously part of an external audit and consulting team, giving him over two decades of direct WIOC experience.

He is responsible for leading the delivery of WIOC’s strategic plan, building capacity and realising profitable growth.

The Chief Financial Officer is Carlton Bramble, CPA, CGA; ACIS — confirmed in the company’s ECSE listing Research Report. The board chair is not named in available sources.

The money, in plain words

In 2018 WIOC made after-tax profit of EC$24.6M (US$24.6M), rising to EC$26.16M (US$26.16M) in 2019; the COVID-19 pandemic then cut that to EC$14.5M (US$14.5M) in 2020 and EC$17.8M (US$17.8M) in 2021. The 2023 audited financial statements have been filed with the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission (ECSRC), but the income statement figures could not be extracted from the PDF in available sources.

In July 2023 the Board adopted a resolution to pay shareholders a dividend of EC$2.24 per share (US$2.24). At the EC$60.00 (US$60)share price, that works out to a dividend yield of approximately 3.7% (our calculation) — a solid cash return for a company with no public trading history before 2021.

The market value of EC$355.2M / US$355.2M (our calculation: 5,920,000 shares × EC$60.00 (US$60)) is large relative to the size of the Antiguan economy, underlining WIOC’s strategic weight in the country.

What it is doing now

WIOC is diversifying into bunkering, aviation refuelling, and commercial real estate, and has initiated consultations with the government’s Department of the Environment as it moves towards building a renewable energy portfolio. The CEO has also flagged a business park project on Friars Hill Road, with groundbreaking planned.

The company has received approval from stakeholder agencies to operate its Sea Island Jetty at nights, extending throughput capacity beyond daylight hours for the first time. The GOAB is continuing its divestment of the remaining shares it owns, a process that could widen the public float and deepen liquidity on the ECSE over time.

What to watch

• 2023 financials: The audited statements are filed with the ECSRC but not yet fully in circulation in a parseable form; the income statement will confirm whether WIOC hit its target of returning to pre-COVID profit levels of EC$24 (US$24)–26M.
• Government sell-down: Further GOAB divestment will set the real price discovery for WIOC shares and determine how liquid the stock becomes on the ECSE.
• PDV Caribe exposure: Venezuela’s state oil subsidiary owns 25% of WIOC; any change in Venezuelan policy or sanctions could affect this stake and fuel supply relationships.
• Energy transition: WIOC is an oil distributor actively exploring renewables — the pace and scale of that pivot is the long-run story for investors.

This is news, not investment advice.